Rice-A-Roni The San Francisco Treat

One of the things that I had hoped to get the opportunity to do, was to ride on a Trolley Car up and down the steep streets of San Francisco. We never did get the chance. I did get to see several of them making their way around town and it will be something I will just have to wait to do, till my next trip to this city.

Escape To Alcatraz

One of the highlights of this adventure was a tour of Alcatraz Island. This was one of the best twenty-six dollars spent. I have seen several documentaries on the history channel, about The Rock. None of them compare to being on the island in person. It is eerily beautiful. Plant life is abundant covering almost every surface of the rocks. The audio tour allows you to immerse yourself into what life was like on The Rock. One of the greatest things was to be able to meet only remaining survivor inmate of Alcatraz, Darwin E. Coon. I have just reading his book and it is very good. He also states that he played a part in the Grate Escape from the island. He helped smuggle tools from the kitchen back to his cell and to Mr. Morris and the Anglin Brothers. It will make a great addition to my library. It will definatly be a place I will revisit with my family.

Wirl Wind Week

Wow...that is all I have to say, about last week. I was off on Monday when the "anomaly", occurred that took out our Atlantis Server. Tuesday was spent researching whether or not the two failed hard drives could be restored and locating replacement drives. Wednesday, was a really long day! I was out the door by 5:30 AM so that I could be in Reno by 9:30 AM to receive the two replacement hard drives from our vendor at Computer Land. I raced back to Round Mountain arriving at work at 1:30 PM. It was determined, that data recovery is impossible (by standard means) on a server, that has two disk failures while running RAID 5. At 5:00 PM we where on a conference call with a data recovery company in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was agreed that we would drive to Navato, CA with the disks. I was given a company car and a co-driver for the trip. After packaging up all the drives carefully into one box, we where on the road by 6:30 PM. Nevada driving can be dangerous at night. There was no moon to drive by and both of us had already been up and worked for a good fifteen hours prior to leaving on this road trip. Athletes prepare for running long marathons in advance by eating lots of pasta or carbo loading in hopes that it will be converted into energy while competing. For the IT Tech it seems to be the opposite. I hadn't eaten anything all day, nor would I, until the next morning. My only caloric intake consisted of Venti sized coffee's from every Starbucks I could see. I call this caffeine loading. My co-driver started out the drive, to give me a break since I had already been on the road for eight hours prior. At Boomtown on the west side of Reno, we switched. This was new driving territory for me. I have been to San Diego, CA along the more southern route but Donner Pass was a new experience. The cards where stacked against us as we left Reno at 10:30 PM. We had both been up for nineteen hours and where exhausted. Luckily for us there was no snow on the pass and despite the rough roads where able to make our way up the pass with relative ease. We kept seeing flashing signs that indicated that Donner Pass was closed to west bound traffic and then there it was a road detour sign. It took us well off the beaten path past a lake that we joked looked as though it was used in the making of the cult classic Friday the 13th. looking back now it was apparent that we where becoming a bit punchy due to long drive. We wound our way through the back road detour, making the whispered chi, chi, chi, ah, ah, ah, sound, that was heard when Jason, was watching one of his victims. We somehow managed to make it out of the woods alive and passed Grass Valley. I know why they call it Grass Valley, because it smells of grass. I love the smell of grass. It reminds me of home (in Upstate New York) and it was a refreshing eye opener. Two hours out my co-driver it tired and drifting in and out of sleep he apologises for drifting off and I tell him, "I got this". One hour out and I can smell the ocean now and I know we are almost there. The roads are narrow due to road construction and there is a fair amount of traffic on the highway despite it being 12 AM. 1:15 AM we have arrived at our destination...thank god. The salty air smells good and the cool air is invigorating as I gather up the important package that I had seat belted into the seat. Thank god for GPS. Our destination just happens to be in an industrial section of town and accommodations are sparse. The GPS unit has proved to be a lifesaver already in the two short weeks that I've owned it. We managed to do a search of motels in the area and make our way towards a Marriott nearby. We check in and I set my alarm for 2:30 AM, the time they say they will call with an update. 2:30 AM...no call yet....3:00 AM...I dose off. My cell phone rings at 5:00 AM. Our first update regarding the drives comes in. Now I'm awake and wondering if this little venture is going to pay off for us. I get cleaned up and call my partner. "Are you ready to go site seeing while they perform their magic", I ask? I was starving since I hadn't eaten all day, the day prior. My partner is a brick shit house and is two of me put together and is always hungry. We search the area for a place to have breakfast for almost an hour and decide that there is nothing in the area so we decide to head into San Francisco. We punch Fisherman's Wharf into the GPS and away we go. The Golden Gate Bridge is an amazing structure and we make our way across as I take a few photos.

After crossing the bridge we come up on a toll road. We are in the fast lane and neither of us have any cash or change. My partner panics and drives through. I'm sure we will get a ticket in the mail with a photo of the two of us checking our pockets for loose change....LOL. We make our way to the Fisherman's Wharf and park. We are starving and make our way to a restaurant on Pier 39. I'm a very liberal guy and pretty open to the acceptance of an alternative lifestyle. My partner on the other hand tends to be a tried and true redneck. San Francisco is well out of his comfort zone. We take our seats and look over the breakfast menu. Our waiter, approaches our table and takes my hand and introduces himself as David. My partners mouth hits the floor. I have to admit I have never had my waiter shake my hand and sure as hell have never had one hold it like he was about to propose. I smile ear to ear, knowing what is about to happen. David, now turns to my partner and proceeds to hold his hand. I am now waiting looking at the floor in anticipation for Davids arrival to it. My partner shows great control and I am impressed to see how well he does. I allow him a moment to collect himself and recover. "I need a Screw Driver", he says. David...David, can I get a Screw Driver! I wasn't sure if he wanted a stiff drink or a sharp instrument to shank the waiter with. My partner says, "I've never been to a jail yet sober I'll be damned if I'm about to start now...We're going to Alcatraz". The worried look leaves my face as I realize it was the stiff drink he was after and a stabbing was not on the days to do list.

Old School

Had a lil ol' skool fun, rebuilding an old PC and formatted it with MS Windows '98. It has been awhile since I worked with this particular OS. It was good fun and a reminder of how far we have come in a few short years.

"Quid Pro Quo"

Remind me again, why it is, that I do, what I do. Help me to understand, why it is, that I am angry when the on call phone rings at 1:29 AM. Why it is, that, I am excited that I will receive my new laptop RAM later, today? Why it is, that I am partaking in a hot cup of Cappachino at 2:00 AM? Why it is, that I am nervous, about having only five cigarettes left till 5:00 AM. Why I am accepting the challenge, of rebuilding an old 386 computer for a friend, just so he can sell it at a garage sale? I'm not sure anymore if I absolutely love or absolutely hate my job, anymore....It is almost out of shear morbid curiosity, that I stick around to see what the next person has to offer up to the IT God. Make that four cigarettes left....The coffee is good (inhales deeply)...very good, in fact....The quadruple shot causes my heart race and yet somehow calms me...like an overhead projector being brought into focus......(fade to black)...Make that three cigarettes left. There there, inner child...daddy knows what it is, that you like....caffeine and nicotine...like a heroin junky after he slowly releases the tourniquet and feels the drugs entering his jonesing veins...It is good, no?...lights up another smoke (inhales deeply) make that two...two beautiful cigarettes ah, ah, ahhhh!...phone rings....go ahead caller you're on the air...this is #$% (Freudian pun)we are having problems with our router on the dispatch system....ah the dispatch system...my my, that is a problem...tell me about your childhood, caller. How did this make you feel?...Did you run away, because the farmer made you perform fellatio on him?.....Did you Clarice? Did you run...run away from the crying lambs? Quid pro quo, Doctor.... It rubs the lotion on it's skin or else it gets the hose again....yes precious it does what it's told, doesn't it? (lights up last cigarette & inhales deeply) Quid pro quo, caller. What is it about good sex that make you have to take a shit? Something for something...just something to think about....LOL

On Call.....

There is nothing like having to deal with a difficult situation at work, just before bed. My mind spends the rest of the evening, hashing and rehashing the events that led out to the problems and the steps followed to eliminate them. Most problems are resolved in a linear fashion. You start at step 1 and work your way through the steps till you find the solution and record these findings either by memory or in some sort of journal. This is true of most things except when dealing with our wireless system. It is very unpredictable and almost seems to have a mind of it's own. Some things work only some of the time, while others work the other half of the time. Creating a trouble shooting guide is like writing about the dark. It is everything...and it is nothing. My hope is that they follow through on their promise of restoring the fiber optic lines. I believe it is the only way a dependable communication link can be re-established. I am often left with what I call a hangover in the mornings after trouble shooting a problem on our wireless system. It leaves my mind tired after a long night of troubleshooting. So many possibilities... so little time to make improvements. Production, production, production, that is the name of the game.

Study..Study...Study....

I spent the entire day reading and preparing for the A+ and Network + class, I have coming up in April. I purchased four new books and have started reading them to get a jump start on my exam. They are packed full of knowledge and I am very happy with my purchase. Tomorrow is a big day, the boss is home and will be back to work. I am looking forward to hearing about her two weeks of class and the testing involved to receive a MCSE Certification.